Miles' desperate gamble... using the Trap Card [A Hero Emerges] to forcibly summon a God Card.
Yet this time, it was not the Winged Dragon of Ra that he had used most frequently.
With Aisha not by his side, the only one of the Three Egyptian Gods Miles could currently use was Obelisk, reclaimed from the obelisk tower.
And in that instant, perhaps for the first time since they met, Quaedes' expression changed more than ever before.
The ice-blue pupils of the young empress trembled like the shaking earth itself.
"This is…!?"
"A god!"
[Obelisk the Tormentor] Level 10│DIVINE│Divine-Beast│4000 ATK
The Tormentor descended.
Though the entire chamber had been designed to accommodate even emperor-class Duels, before Obelisk's overwhelming size, the very space seemed compressed, straining to bear the weight of a god.
"When he descends, scorching winds shall sweep across the desolate earth! This is the god's counterattack that overturns my doomed fate!"
"So, besides The Winged Dragon of Ra, you also possess another God Card, Miles!"
He had been holding it all along. Ever since Quaedes activated Rank-Up-Magic The Seventh One this turn, Miles had gripped Obelisk in his hand, waiting for her attack declaration.
"This is the true god!"
Quaedes' ice-blue eyes fixed upon the towering deity before her.
The frost that once encased her features seemed to melt beneath the scorching divine wind.
She was smiling.
If Miles remembered correctly, this was the first time he had ever seen Emperor Quaedes smile.
The smile hidden beneath her glacial exterior was far more captivating than he had imagined.
If not witnessed in battle, one might have sighed, "Ah… the winter has finally passed. Spring has arrived."
However, this was a Duel.
In a Duel, a smile brimming with fighting spirit was not a good omen.
While most trembled before the descent of a god and feared its destructive might, only Quaedes revealed a smile she had never shown before at the sight of one.
"Magnificent, Miles. You are an even greater surprise than I imagined! A man who holds two God Cards… I will conquer you!"
Dangerous words in every sense. Whether conquest in battle or otherwise, Miles found neither acceptable.
It was precisely to overturn this impending defeat that he had summoned Obelisk at the final moment.
Obelisk's effect that could reverse the battlefield, even during the opponent's turn, Soul Energy MAX.
By Tributing 2 monsters he controlled, he could destroy all monsters on the opponent's field with less Attack than Obelisk, and inflict damage equal to Obelisk's 4000 Attack.
And at this moment, Miles' field held exactly two monsters to serve as the offering for Soul Energy MAX—[Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning] and [Drytron Mu Beta Fafnir].
"No. Still not enough!" Miles' gaze hardened as he stared at Emperor Quaedes.
[Quaedes, LP: 6600]
Her remaining Life Points were too high.
Even a 4000-point blast from Soul Energy MAX, normally decisive, would not defeat her now.
"I need greater Attack! Strong enough to shatter the very limit of victory!"
Miles thrust his arm forward. "[Obelisk the Tormentor]'s effect! If Obelisk is Special Summoned during the opponent's turn, your monster must attack Obelisk!"
Obelisk's colossal, blue divine body stepped forward, preventing Quaedes from choosing any other attack target.
Before a god's majesty, there could be no evasion.
"I must attack the god, then?"
The fighting spirit in Quaedes' ice-blue eyes matched Miles' own.
"Interesting. I accept this battle! Roar, spear that shatters even gods—[Number C102: Archfiend Seraph]!!"
The pitch-black lance of Chaos Xyz pierced through the scorching winds encircling the battlefield, charging directly at Obelisk.
"Even if you didn't accept, there's no escape before Obelisk the Tormentor! Come, strongest emperor of the Empire—Quaedes!"
Miles activated Obelisk's effect. Its massive blue arms seized Drytron and the Chaos warrior in each hand.
The destructive god's power that could shake heaven and earth erupted without restraint.
"I Tribute two monsters to Obelisk the Tormentor! Effect activate—Soul Energy MAX!"
The same "Soul Energy MAX," yet this was Obelisk's other mode beyond field destruction.
[By Tributing 2 other monsters you control, this effect can instead become: This card's Attack becomes infinite until the end of this turn.]
To seize victory, Miles needed greater power—until it reached infinity.
"This is a god! Limitless power!" he roared.
[Obelisk the Tormentor, ATK: 4000 → ∞]
Forced into battle against [Number C102: Archfiend Seraph], Obelisk's final Attack was infinite.
This single punch—no matter how many Life Points Quaedes had remaining—would be enough to obliterate her, to punch through even the imperial palace itself down to the earth's core.
"—God Hand Impact!!"
Reflected within her ice-blue eyes was that infinite strike.
Yet the battle-ready smile on Quaedes' face did not fade in the slightest.
"How magnificent… this is the power of a god! I will not let go, not until I make you… and this power… mine. I will never release you, Miles!"
She hurled out her final remaining card. Even before the infinite Attack, Emperor Quaedes Soroya would meet it head-on.
No matter how anyone judged it, this was a battle style devoid of common sense... one that only Emperor Quaedes could embody.
"—Quick-Play Spell activate: [Burial from a Different Dimension]!"
[Target up to 3 banished monsters from either player; return them to the Graveyard.]
A Quick-Play Spell that recovers banished monsters. In Quaedes' Deck, its primary purpose was likely to retrieve [Lantern Shark] from the Banished Zone and perform another Graveyard Xyz Summon.
But this time, Quaedes chose to recover a single monster—one even Miles had not anticipated.
"I return the monster banished by [Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning]—[Number C73: Abyss Supra Splash] returns to my Graveyard!"
Facing Obelisk's infinite Attack at the brink of life and death, Quaedes chose to bring back the original Chaos Xyz that had been banished by the Envoy's effect.
"This is the final raging tide, Miles!"
Quaedes swept her arm upward and flipped her last Set card.
In an instant, as the card was revealed, the tsunami vortex connecting heaven and earth reappeared on the battlefield.
No. the overwhelming surge now eclipsed even the previous tide.
"Break through the dead end into infinity! Witness my full power! Trap Card [Xyz Reborn], activate!"
[Target 1 Xyz Monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon it, and if you do, attach this card to it as an Xyz Material.]
"I Special Summon [Number C73: Abyss Supra Splash] from my Graveyard!"
[Number C73: Abyss Supra Splash] Rank 6│WATER│Warrior│3000 ATK
Normally, when reviving an Xyz Monster with a Spell or Trap, it would return without materials and thus lose part of its combat capability.
Regardless, [Xyz Reborn], a Trap dedicated to Xyz Summons, avoided that drawback.
"After Special Summoning it, I attach [Xyz Reborn] beneath [Number C73: Abyss Supra Splash] as Xyz Material!"
The raging tide returned. Holding Xyz Material once more, the effect of [Number C73: Abyss Supra Splash]—which Miles had witnessed just one turn ago—was impossible to forget.
"This is my power—even capable of rivaling infinity! I activate the effect of [Number C73: Abyss Supra Splash]!"
[Once during damage calculation, if a monster you control battles: You can detach 1 material from this card; that monster gains Attack equal to the Attack of the monster it is battling, during that damage calculation only.]
In the midst of the battle between [Obelisk the Tormentor] and [Number C102: Archfiend Seraph], the raging power of Abyss Supra Splash forcibly intervened.
"I detach [Xyz Reborn] as material! The battling [Number C102: Archfiend Seraph] gains Attack equal to the god's Attack—that is, infinity!"
[Number C102: Archfiend Seraph, ATK: 2900 → ∞]
In this Duel, a second infinity was born.
Empowered by the raging tidal force of Abyss Supra Splash, the pitch-black demonic lance tore through the scorching divine winds, its Attack reaching the realm of infinity.
Within the space compressed by divine power, the infinite fist and the infinite spear collided head-on.
The shockwave that erupted not only shook the palace grounds but spread outward from its center, rippling across the entire imperial capital.
Within the grand hall, the glamorous Karina Diane stared in disbelief toward the concealed chamber.
"Good heavens… just how fierce is Her Majesty? To cause such a disturbance?"
Crack!
Infinity against infinity… the entire Duel space fractured in that instant. The battle, burning to its absolute limit, pushed even the Spirit Eyes on their wrists to scorching heat.
[Obelisk the Tormentor] destroyed.
[Number C102: Archfiend Seraph] destroyed.
Both possessing infinite Attack, the Spirit Eyes ultimately judged them equal… mutual destruction.
After that ultimate collision, the Tormentor and the fallen angel vanished from the field.
An assault that overturned Miles' very understanding. He had never imagined that Quaedes could confront Obelisk's infinite power head-on.
This was the battle of Quaedes Soroya… the strongest in the Varian Empire, famed across the continent.
"To resist me to this extent… it is a first. In the name of the Emperor of the Empire, I acknowledge you, Miles! Among all Duelists I have seen, none surpasses you!"
Recognition from the Empire's emperor herself, declaring that she had never seen a Duelist stronger than Miles.
Yet another undeniable truth remained: Quaedes had defeated every Duelist she had faced to ascend to the imperial throne.
"Take pride in it. Only a man like you is worthy of me."
The raging tide surged, lifting Quaedes' blue hair as if she had become one with the ocean itself, unleashing the empress's final strike.
"I will conquer you whole. This is the final blow!"
After infinity clashed with infinity and both Obelisk and the fallen angel perished, only one monster remained on the field.
That was [Number C73: Abyss Supra Splash], revived by Quaedes and the very force that had overturned the battlefield.
"Number C73: Abyss Supra Splash, direct attack! Abyssal Cataclysm Spear!!!"
The roaring vortex struck Miles head-on. The surging tide hurled his body skyward before slamming him violently into the sea.
Quaedes' overwhelming spiritual power inflicted damage rivaling a Shadow Game, even outside one.
"Aaahhhhh!"
[Miles, LP: 450 → 0]
As the raging tide consumed him and his Life Points fell to zero, Miles' desperate resistance to preserve his honor ended in defeat.
Emperor Quaedes Soroya was, without question, the strongest opponent Miles had encountered on the Spirit Continent since the Pharaoh.
As the tsunami receded, his body—though crafted by Viel—throbbed with searing pain from the emperor's crushing spiritual force, leaving him unable to move.
Even lifting a single finger was difficult. All he could do was watch as Quaedes, her ice-blue eyes fixed upon him, stepped closer.
So this is how it ends… crushed after all?
Miles had never imagined he would lose his first time here… in every sense of the word.
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